Brucellosis

(255) This disease, which is notifiable in some countries, is caused by a bacterium, Brucella suis, which causes abortion, infertility and lameness. Abortions occur at any time during pregnancy and when disease first enters the herd there will be a large percentage of sows and gilts repeating 30 to 50 days after mating. In chronically infected herds the clinical signs are ill defined and not easily recognised. Diagnosis is carried out by serology and isolation of the organism. There is no reliable treatment and the disease is best eradicated either by depopulation, or testing and elimination of individuals.